By Justin Woazeah

FROM THE ARCHIVES PART 6: WINTER 2007

I moved to the United States of America when I was 5 1⁄2 years old. The nation I lived in was Liberia in West Africa. The reason I had to leave is because violent revolutionaries took over our country and I saw many of my friends and relatives killed before my eyes. Since I had relatives in Winston Salem, they sent for me. They knew this was no place for a child to have to live.

Even though I was very young when the trouble started in my country, I can still remember the time before the revolution when things were peaceful and good. From an early age my parents taught me about God, and faith was an important part of our lives. I remember drawing on that when things started to go bad. One time one of the soldiers of the revolution put a gun to my head and demanded that I tell him where to find food. This soldier was only about 7 years old, because it was common for young children and teens to be used in the war. Food was so scarce I had determined not to tell him about the chickens I was hiding. As he cocked his gun to shoot me, the chickens got loose from their hiding place and my life was spared. Because of things like this and the people I saw die, I became hard. I became afraid to love people because of the hurt. I remember never crying unless I was mad.

When I moved to the States I felt very alone. The children I met made fun of me because of my accent. Even though I knew 5 languages at the time, I decided to put all my efforts into improving my English so those kids wouldn’t make fun of me anymore.

One thing that really helped me then was my mom reading me the story of Joseph and applying it to my life. She told me how God used all the hard things that happened to Joseph for good purposes and to help him fulfill his call. Whenever I would be going through hard things Mama would say, “Remember your call son, remember what God has for you.” It was things like that and my parents forcing me to go to church and a fascination I had for reading the Bible, that has helped mold me into the person I am today.

When I came to ASU to play football, I had been a successful running back in high school and that’s what I wanted to do here. But the coaches wanted me to play cornerback, so I had to learn a new position which isn’t easy. As I think back on that now, I believe it was the tough stuff I’d been through before that helped me not only to meet challenges, but to become a starter for 4 years here at ASU.

When I first came to college I got into the party scene, but I didn’t like it. I remembered my Mama’s words, to remember my call and I realized it was not true to my character to party. I made a conscious effort to rededicate my life to God and I started reading my Bible again. When I read the story about Moses, one thing that stood out to me was how Moses was abandoned for a better position.  It’s similar to Joseph’s story because God used a bad thing for a good purpose.

As I think of how God has already worked in my life, allowing me to start for 4 years here at ASU, play on 2 National Championship teams and being a part of our victory over Michigan. I am grateful for all He’s brought me through. The sense of destiny that my parents instilled in me is a big part of where I am today and I’m looking forward to the good things God has for me in the future.